


How bad is 'this'?

by TheHirsch



Category: Almost Human, And There Is Hope!, Xinia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Apocalypse, Character Study, Crossover, Dark, Deaf Character, Developing Relationship, Disabled Character, F/M, Friendship, Original Character(s), Sign Language, Sisters, Zombie Apocalypse, amputee!Jurow, cyborg!Jurow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-10-20 23:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17632160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHirsch/pseuds/TheHirsch
Summary: The world has ended while Kennex was in a coma. He now tries to get along and to survive.





	1. How bad is 'this'?

John Kennex jumped out of his car. His partner did the same, they both headed up to where the buzz was going on. Tough situation. One of the major criminals of the city was active again, a genius maniac who loved to see the world burn.  
He was here today to help stop her. Several people, two of them cops, had been kidnapped.  
The squad was getting ready to move in, with latest data the Drones were submitting, they plotted out strategies to solve this. Of course also backup plans were made.  
Then the time had come, a SWAT team and a few detectives moved in, making their way up the building.  
But suddenly everything turned south, a large group of goons was away ting them, the hostages were not even at this location. A struggle in a tight space, everything went so fast and then a grenade exploded. Kennex was caught up in a flashback and then blackness surrounded him.  
***  
When he opened his eyes his vision was blurry. The first thing he felt was pain, or rather soreness. Without the pain medicine it was almost not bearable.  
The ceiling above was white, he was in a bed, his blanket had a familiar pattern. His right hand reached up to remove the clear plastic mask it was suffocating instead of helping, there was no flow at all. One of the first things that told him, something was wrong, apart from his physical and mental state.  
He grunted as he sat up, everything hurt. When he shifted his weight he noticed that one thing was like always, though. His right leg was missing, he had lost it about two and a half years ago.  
He was in a hospital, the flowers on the table were dry and dead, and his IV bags had run dry.  
He mildly started to panic. He had spotted his prosthetic leg, leaning on a chair at the table.  
He moved to the edge of the bed, still trapped by cables. He, half panicky tried to free himself. After he did so, he started to get up, leaning on his nightstand and his good leg. But this leg was like jello, he fell and hit the ground hard.  
He mumbled something, trying to get up. After laying in bed for weeks it was very hard to move, and with just one leg it was extra hard.  
He felt week and like his body was not up for the job at all.  
But he kept trying. He ended up crawling on his belly towards his leg and leaning onto the wall to attach it.  
Slowly he tried to get on his feet, failing a few times, but he had to know what was going on. He grabbed his bag, with a little stuff, on of his colleagues had left for him.  
A little later, he had reached the door to the hallway, he pulled it open, right facing one of the food charts that were storing all the trays. He pushed it aside and almost fell over again. He clinged to the wall, he only support available.  
The lighting in the hallway was bad, some of the lights were dead other were flickering and humming. Next to the typical hospital smells that made him already uncomfortable, it smelled like rotten things, presumably coming from the food in the chart. He already felt nauseous, it all made him gag.  
“Hello? Nurse?” he didn't yell, but he said it loudly. What was going on, he made his way towards a front and the nurse's station. He was barely keeping it together, he was dragging his feet and walked very slowly always expecting to fall over again.  
***  
In a hallway, with pour light, there stood a woman. She was wearing a black helmet with a headlamp, a thick, army green jacket, which was not open in the front. There was an assault rifle over her shoulder and a backpack hanging one one strap, she was looting drugs and other medical supplies into it, when she heard steps, she turned towards them. She drew bead, up the hallway, she didn't see who or what it was, the footfalls were slow and of naked feet, a bit dragging.  
Her finger moved towards the trigger when she saw the figure emerge front the shadows, a man in a hospital gown who glanced angry at her. He opened his mouth to say something when he lost balance and tripped over his own feet, letting out a rather helpless yelp.  
She kept her gun up, when she walked over to him, with careful steps, the light was blinding him.  
Damnit, why was she aiming her firearm right at him, what had he done?!  
“Be careful or you’re gonna kill someone, lady,” he grumbled, as he tried to get up.  
She sighed in relief and put the safety back on, and help him up. Both her hands were gloved, through the opened jacked he could see that she was wearing tactical armour, strapped to her left thigh; a hand gun.  
“Where are you coming from?” she asked, her voice had something familiar but he couldn't tell what it was.  
“My bed,” he responded sounding very tired and not less grumpy. “What do you want with that? Is that how you greet everyone?”  
“Just the dead,” she answered. Now supporting him so he wouldn't fall over. “I thought you are one of them.”  
He watched her pull off her right glove, in order to feel his forehead. Even though he was quite pale, he had no fever.  
What the hell. He had so many questions, everything was turning in his head.  
“What is your name? Do you know what day it is?” she asked.  
“John Kennex, and that was one of the questions I would liked to ask next.”  
“It's Thursday, the 19th of July,” she explained and had to take her second arm too, to keep him from falling over.  
“Fuck. I've been in a coma… again,” he sighed. “I'm so tired of this.”  
“Hey, it's alright. I'll take you to a safe place and check you over, alright?”  
He looked at her again, there was still this familiar feel to her, he squinted his eyes as he looked into her face.  
“What are you? Why are you looting? What happened here?”  
“Seems like you have slept some time,” she took a deep breath, “I'm Natalyia Jurow, I'm a doctor.”  
He nodded. Things were odd about her, things didn't make sense, but his mind was too fuzzy to really process all those informations.  
She obviously was left-handed, the side she was carrying her side arm and the way she had held her rifle, now she was feeling his pulse with her right hand though. Also the grip of her left hand was a lot tighter, but he really didn't think about that yet.  
“How bad is _this_?” he asked, looking around in the hall and the mess everywhere.  
“Very bad. End of the world bad,” she said, totally serious and a bit grim looking.  
She picked up her stuff and closed the closet, then she helped Kennex to get moving again. On their way out they luckily found a wheelchair.  
He noticed how tense she was, even though she appeared professional to him, it made him feel uncomfortable.  
The closer they came to the leaving the hospital, the tenser she got.  
“Can you stay right with me?” she asked as she let go of him to grab her rifle with both hands. “And please, no matter what happens, not exclaim loudly, we don't want to attack attention.”  
She opened the back door slowly, peeking outside. Kennex still tried to grasp what was going on. Then she reckoned him to follow.  
“Whatever you do, be as quiet as possible,” she whispered into his ear, while she helped him down the stairs. They left the useful wheelchair behind.  
She had parked a yellow-black ATV in the ally and was now heading towards it. She took of her jacked and let him put it on, before she helped him sit down behind her.  
“Hold on tightly,” she said.  
He still didn't get what was going on, something was strange though. It was suspiciously quiet, nobody was on the pavement they drove on. Cars were parked all over the street some of them had crashed into each other. A strange stench filled the air.  
The ATV had an electric engine and except the sound of the moving tires it moved quietly. While they rode down the street, Kennex could see a few people, wandering around as if they had no destination. Weird.  
Jurow gave no damn, she just drove. Kennex held onto her to don't fall off as she took a turn.


	2. Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha takes Kennex home with her and helps him recover, while that the stress on her expands further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm posting late, had a busy weekend.

After a few minutes, she softly hit the breaks and maneuvered the ATV through a small ally. Then she stopped and turned off the engine.   
She unmounted and also helped Kennex down.   
He still felt fuzzy and sore at the same time. He watched her tip over the container, now the ATV was hidden.   
“Okay let's go,“ she turned around to him.   
There was a man passing, walking slowly and as if he was leaving a club at 2am, being very drunk. As soon as he noticed the two he charged and came towards them.   
“Stay behind me,” she picked up a baseball bat, that was leaning on the neighbour's fence. Then she ran and jumped the man, shattering his skull with the bat. Careful to don't get anything of his brain into her face.   
She checked if the there were anymore and then headed back to Kennex, who was staring at her, pale, disturbed and mildly panicking.  
She put the bat back at its place. And then wanted to help him over to a normal looking house. But he was frozen in place.   
“You just killed a man,” he said. “Who are you? What the fuck is going on?”  
“Would it help, if I told you that he was already dead when I smacked his head? I'll explain when we are inside. It is really not safe outdoors and I can't use my guns around the house. You have to trust me, if I wanted to kill you I would have killed you right there at the hospital. But I didn't, because I don't just kill people.”  
A bit stubborn he started to come along with her, he wished he had a gun. Whoever this woman was, she knew how to kick some ass. He really had to be careful.   
She went over to a fire escape ladder, it was half a meter off the ground and one needed some brains and strength to get up.   
She went first.   
“Do you think you can make it up there, without falling off?”   
“I can try,” he murmured back.   
“First level, you got it,” she climbed up, quickly and carefully pushed one the window next to it, and jumped inside. Then she bent out to help him in. He fell to the ground as soon as he was inside. She closed the window and locked it. Now it was dark, she had blocked the windows.   
Kennex cursed, regretting to have gone with her.  
She stroke her lighter and lit a tea light wich she placed inside an empty jar.   
She went over to help him get back on his feet. He really was trying not not freak out.   
She sensed this. “Sorry, I know it was a bit much,” she said softly, ”have a seat.”  
As soon as she had helped him to sit down, she went to flip the light switch so they had propper light, maybe it would help to calm him down a bit.   
Now he sat he could look around. This was a living room, a sofa, a table and an old TV, in the corner there were training weights and a punchbag.   
Jurow pulled of her boots, left them at the window and took off her helmet.   
“This is my place, I would like to check you over now. While I do so, I can explain what is going on and answer your questions,” she said as she secured her rifle and took off her backpack.   
“Basically, people started to become sick about two weeks ago, they had been bitten by other humans. They started to run a strong fever, got sepsis and died off organ failure. After they were dead they woke up again, but now without reason, just the need to eat flesh and bite other people. You can set them on fire, chop legs off, shot them into the chest, they will keep going. You need to go for the head, destroy their brain. It spread very fast. They seem to be attracted by sounds, that why didn't want to use a gun around my place.”  
Kennex nodded, he watched her take off her gloves. Under the left one she was wearing another glove, the fabric similar to he tactical gloves she had worn on top but much thinner and they were of a beige colour.   
“What's up with that?” asked Kennex, unconsciously lifting an eyebrow.   
“I really don't want freak you out.” she carefully started to pull it off. “I'm a cyborg, I have a fake arm.”   
She revealed a mechanical hand that was mostly metal.   
“Don't worry, me too. I have a fake leg,” he said with a smirk.   
She thought he was kidding but then he reviled that silver line, where the mechanical part was meeting the organic part. His leg was top of the line, and on first glance it seemed like a real one.   
“It needs to be charged, doesn't it?” she asked.   
He nodded.   
“Do you know where to get one that doesn't? I am not sure how long we will have power and not being able to walk would suck tremendously.”  
“I keep a blade leg at home, along with gear and a few guns, could be useful if we go there.  
“We will, as soon as you are better. Wait-- Did you say ‘gear’?”   
“Yeah. I'm a cop, a detective. I worked for homicide, mostly.”  
She looked at him a bit closer, as if she was thinking. “I think, I know you. You were at the big raid in the delta sector, and you were inside when shit hit the fan?”  
“I don't remember much, but I feel like I know you, or your voice--.”  
“I'm a member of the SWAT team that was at the scene with you and the other detectives.” She pulled up the fabric of her mask, that had covered her identity at work, too prove her point. It only left the eyes to see.   
“Did you lose your arm on the job?”   
She nodded as she removed the mask again, her thoughts drifting off. “But not that day. Earlier, the Delta-Raid was my second day back on the job. But the same woman was responsible, a dirty bomb, my hand was practically smashed, put my CAT up here,” she gestured up to her upper arm, “you know, to stop the bleeding. It saved my life, the poison would have spread to the entire body, I would have been dead on scene.”  
“You acted just right.”  
“No, I didn’t. I could have helped my mates, I could have done my job. I just sat there and dissociated after I had saved my own arse.”  
“What happened?”  
“I was WIA, pretty badly, almost died back then. It was before I came to the US.”  
“I know the struggle of PTSD,” he was not looking at Jurow anymore, but over her shoulder and at the person who had come through the door behind her. “You don’t live alone?”  
“No, I live with a flatmate, Katya,” Jurow turned around. “Oh, that’s my sister, Anastasiya, she was visiting when the outbreak started.”  
The woman was looking through a half opened door, she had brown hair that was braided into a ong braid, her hair was slightly messes up. She was not saying anything, just looking at the two. She seemed tired. She shrugged and left again.   
“Did we wake her?” asked Kennex.  
“Unlikely,” said Jurow with a brief smile. “I’ll get you food and some water.”  
She smiled at him and then went downstairs. Kennex sighed and detached his leg, he had to save battery until he could go to his place. He was not sure how much he could trust her though .   
A bit later, Jurow came back, looking a bit worried. She handed him his food and water and then went to her sister. Her mood had not gotten any better when she came back outside.   
“What is wrong?” asked Kennex.   
“Katya is not here, she must have left when I as in hospital. Nastia said she to the backup gun, I left here for the two,” Jurow was nervous and worried. She ran both her hands through her short red hair. “She’s alone, out there, with these monsters. And she doesn’t even know how bad it is downtown.”  
“If she is just a little like you, she will be fine.”  
Jurow frowned. “She is nothing like me. She is brain, when I’m heart. Sure she is smart but she is not a fighter, she never fired a gun in her entire life.”  
“I see, now, why you are worried,” he said between bites. He war carving, probably because of low blood sugar.   
Suddenly the door was slammed open again, Anastasiya bursted out, on her face panic, she grabbed her sister’s arm and dragged her to the window, and tried to remove the cover just a bit, so they could see outside. This all happened without any word being said.


	3. Kate Vashchenko, and how to stay alive.

As soon as Jurow saw what was going on, she yanked open the window and removed the safety of her rifle. She stabilised the firearm on the windowsill, drawing bead on whatever was going on down there, while breaking her own ‘no guns are fired near the house’ rule.   
Kennex put on his leg and got up, he had to see what was happening. Anastasiya took a step back, to not be in the way of her sister’s sniping.   
Down in the street, a woman was running from a group of undead. One of them was about to grab her, but Jurow exhaled and fired, striking him down. The shell fell onto the carpet. The woman who was running, yelled as she realised that she was shot at.   
Jurow straight aimed at the next closest. Exhale, fire.   
The woman ran faster, heading towards the ladder, her way of escape.   
Jurow waited for a clear shot and then took down three more in quick succession. Walkers down the street had heard the the loud noise and were now shuffling over to the house.   
Jurow was not giving a damn at the moment, she had to make it. As soon as the woman was climbing and out of reach for the zombies, Jurow pulled back, making space for the woman and then helping her to come inside.   
The woman said something in a language, Kennex didn’t understand, except the “Nata” at the beginning. The new person was out of breath and crying, totally done. She probably didn't work in law enforcement, she was not used to this amount of stress.   
“You stupid idiot!” Jurow screamed to the woman’s face. “Don’t do ever do this again. Now we have all the freaks waiting down there to feed on us! Did they bite you? Scratch you? Touch you?”  
Kennex watched Jurow check her over.   
“No Nata, I’m fine, I swear.”  
“You are absolutely not fine.”  
Then the newcomer noticed Kennex. “Who is your new friend?”  
“Someone from work, I found him at the hospital. His name is John Kennex,” she turned to Kennex, who was just standing there, in front of Anastasiya, in all this mess. “John, that's my flatmate, Yekaterina Vashchenko.”  
Kennex nodded.  
Jurows switched back to Russian, telling Vashchenko to go to the kitchen, to have a coffee and some rest, that she would be right there but now had to make extra sure that the undead stayed outside and that the building was really safe. Jurow hugged her and then let her go downstairs.   
“You OK?” she asked Kennex.   
He nodded. “I'm alright this far, but when we are at introductions now. Can you tell me what is the matter with your sister?’  
Jurow thought for a second, not sure what he meant. “She is deaf. She can only hear very low frequencies,” she explained while she secured the window again, leaving possibility to peek down.  
“She's really good at reading lips though. She knows English.”   
Jurow leaneded to her sister. »Thanks for telling me about Katya,« Jurow signed.   
Anastasiya only nodded and gestured an »Always«.   
“I'll now go and check the building. I'll be right back with you.”  
She left the rifle in the living room this time. She started on the ground floor, she had barricaded all the windows and the door. She checked if the cover was intact so no light from the inside would travel outside. Besides zombies, other humans could really be a danger. And she had get used to the fact that everyone should be treated as a threat unless proven otherwise.   
Kennex had finished his food and felt a lot better already. I tried not to think about his colleagues and if they were alright. They most likely were not. And what about the people at the “Delta-Raid” how Jurow called it. How many did they lose?  
Jurow turned off the light in the living room and they were back to romantic candle light. Kennex seemed to be less pale.   
“Do you want to sleep? I can draw out the sofa if you want?” Jurow asked and opened the velcro of her vest, she was getting rid of all the gear that was left. Except her handgun, she always kept it close.   
If he had a gun he would probably do the same. He really wished he had one.   
He watched how Jurow went over to the window to have a small glance outside.   
The pack was still down there, some of them had turned around and wandered up and down the street.   
Jurow closed the cover again.   
***   
That night Kennex didn't sleep well, it made him nervous to be surrounded by strangers and he kept having nightmares.   
Jurow too looked tired and not really enthusiastic, when she came to check on him first thing in the morning. “How are you feeling?” she asked.   
“Better than yesterday. Didn't sleep well and I'm hungry, though.”  
“I'll make food for us all, you can join me downstairs.”  
She lead him down the stairs and along the hall into the kitchen, it was dark in the house, since all the windows were blocked. She lit a few more candles.  
She used a propane camping cooker to heat water and then poured over instant noodles. Kennex watched her, staying quiet. He really loved noodles but his lack of sleep and the returning dark thoughts made it hard.   
“Chopsticks or a fork?” she asked as she had prepped the four bowls.   
“Chopsticks, please,” he answered not looking up.   
“Hey, what's wrong,” she asked as she sat down next to him. She too had grabbed chopsticks.   
“I don't know. I just don't want to do this anymore. I realised what this all means,” he gestured around, “all my friends are probably dead. There is nothing that is worth living for.”  
“I know how you are feeling, and if it wasn't for the genius and my sister, I would have killed myself already. But the two need someone to keep the in check, someone to protect them and go out into the city to get supplies, when what we bunkered runs short.”  
He nodded, “I understand. Have you met others? Other humans?”   
“They wanted to leave the city, they want to head to San Francisco, they said they had a refugee camp there,” she shrugged.   
“What do you think off this idea?”  
“I don't think we three can make it there.”  
“I'm sure you will find a way,” he started to dig into his.   
A door was opened on this floor, Vashchenko came up the hallway and entered the kitchen.   
“You better, tavarisch?” asked Jurow.   
“A bit. Are you still mad at me?”  
“Not really, I know that it has scared you enough, so you never do it again. Why did you go outside?”  
“I wanted to get chokolade and have some fun. I got bored and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now.”  
“But you got what you needed? And did you have fun?”  
“Yes and no. I now see that you were right about the status out there. I thought it couldn't be that bad. But then I saw them feast on an old man,” Vashchenko made a disgusted face.   
“Just don't do it again, okay?”  
Vashchenko nodded.   
“Can you tell Nastia that food is ready?” she gestured »food« along.   
“Yes,” Vashchenko turned around and went down the hall and upstairs.   
Kennex had watched quietly. “Are you two--” he paused, looking for the right word.   
“--a couple? No, just friends. I looked after her when she was new in the United States.”  
“I see,” Kennex nodded.   
“Do you think we can go to your place today?”  
“We don't have much of a choice. I'll manage and if not I trust you to solve the situation if needed.”  
“We'll have a look at the map and make a plan. We should head out early, you never know how long things take.”  
Jurows sister and Vashchenko came down the stairs, Anastasia straight wanted to hug her older sister.   
After a while she pulled away.   
»It's alright, Nastya, eat.« Jurow paused. “I'll head out with Kennex today,” she said while signing along as she went. “I'm not sure how long we will need but we should be back at dawn. We'll take a radio with us. And Katya if you should feel like you need fresh air, maybe go sit on the roof for a bit.”  
Vashchenko looked called out and saw away slightly embarrassed.


	4. The Precinct

A little later that they, after they had looked on maps and planned their route Jurow gave Kennex a spare gun. They were about to head out. She grabbed her backpack and put on her boots.   
“Out of curiosity, what's in there?” he asked as he saw the backpack, it seemed heavy. She had hod it with her yesterday, too.   
“Survival stuff, also a cape, a mask, supplies and ammunition.”  
Kennex nodded with a brief smile.   
“What?”  
“Nothing,” he said. He didn't want her to look inside his head, he didn't know her good enough.   
“Are you ready to head out?” she asked, she had geared up again, put on helmet and vest. She had given him her jacked again.   
“As ready as I can be.”  
“Alright, I'll go first and make sure you are covered, just make sure to close the window when you are outside.”  
He nodded.   
And she climbed down, the zombies had spread over the street again.  
Both were focused on making as little noise as possible when they walked around the building to where Jurow had hidden the ATV .   
She hopped on first, after she had removed the cover and waited until he was seated before she hit the gas softly to manoeuvre out into the street and towards Kennex’ place.   
Thankfully they made it there without running into trouble. Kennex went in first, after he had unlocked the door, he had Jurow's gun out and checked if they were alone.   
“Have you thought about what you want to do after you got your stuff?” asked Jurow. After he had done the sweep.   
“Yeah, I did. I kinda want to stick with you. You seem to know how to keep your group safe. I can help you with it. Also it won't hurt me to have a doc around and I know that you are a good person, even though you seem a bit stern.”  
She smiled at that statement. “You are welcome to stay with us.”  
She moved over to a window, to keep an eye on the street, while Kennex went to change into other clothes and get his leg.   
“Do you need more time to pack some stuff?” she asked when he was done.   
“Just a moment, I'm done mostly. I just want to get the food and stuff we could use. He shouldered a duffle bag.   
She smirked at this.   
“What?”  
“Nothing. Here,” he gave her her gun back and took his, to load it.   
Jurow hid it and checked the street again. There was a horde of zombies, that seemed to be interested in a cat.   
“We have friends out there,” she said sarcastically.   
“I have seen you shoot, I don't think this will be an issue, “ Kennex said with a grin.  
Jurow rolled her eyes at this. “Thanks.”  
Kennex also gave her back her jacket with a nod. “Thanks for helping me out.”  
“No problem. Let's go?”  
“Yes, let's go, I wonder if we could go to my precinct. I want to get the stuff from locker, and maybe other gear that could be useful.”  
She nodded. “That's actually a great idea.” She handed him the keys. “You drive, you know how to get there, just try to avoid downtown.”  
“Alright, “ he took the keys.  
She went out first, her rifle raised ready to shoot the zombies as soon as they would turn towards them there were three of them, she thought for a second and then gave them a bullet each.   
Meanwhile Kennex had started the engine of the ATV and Jurow just had to sit down after him.   
“Okay, let's go,” said Jurow after she was seated.   
Kennex drove them through the city. It felt like a ghost town, and that strange staunch was still filling the air, it was not too strong though. Except for zombies nobody was in the streets.   
Even though both of them were feeling with especially stressful situations on a daily basis, the overall atmosphere made them feel anxious. Just the knowledge that the world as they had know it had ended and nothing would be like had been before. Everything still felt surreal in some way and both of them hope that this all was just a bad dream.   
***  
They entered the building through the entrance in the underground parking area, it was dark down there. There was no light in the area itself.   
Natasha had to turn on her headlight and John got out his flashlight and gun.   
Suddenly there was something the radio, thankfully Natasha had plugged in headphones, so it was not on loudspeaker. But John noticed because she had stopped.  
“Potato to Tiger. Tiger do you read? Please respond,” it was Katya’s voice.   
Natasha cleared her throat before reaching for the radio. “Here Tiger. What's up?” she said with a lowered voice and let go of the button.   
“What's your status?” Katya asked.   
“We are alright. Got what we needed, now we are checking something else.”  
John looked at Natasha while raising an eyebrow.   
“Understood. Can you please call through once per hour, Nastia is worried.”  
“We will. Over and Out.”  
John was still looking at her.   
“It was Katya, she wanted to know how we are doing,” she told him.   
He nodded. And then started to walk again. Surprisingly the console was active and he could use the biometric lock to gain access and the two entered the building.   
There was light but it was down to maybe thirty percent. And Kennex was not relaxed at all.   
“Building is on lock down mode someone must have triggered a silent alarm.”  
“This can mean anything. Maybe it was triggered when all of this started and noone was around to turn it off,” she said quietly.   
She was following right after him, holding her rifle with both her hands, she held it lowered but ready to use it.   
“Okay, my locker first,” John said quietly føre he turned left and they went up the stairwell.   
He lead her into a locker room and then opened a locker. He packed all his gear he had there and put on his vest. Meanwhile Natasha was at the door making sure the hallway was secure and they wouldn't be surprised.   
“Alright, let's go to the basement of building B,“ he said quietly as he stepped towards her, being done.   
To be able to enter the other building they had to pass several of those locks. They made their way through it, John heading straight towards the storage areas.   
They first had to go through the lobby before they could reach the stairs in the back of the building. But in the lobby they were awaited by something neither of them had expected.   
As soon as they opened the door to the lobby the smells from inside came towards them. It was incredibly strong and let both of them choke.   
There were corpses in the lobby, about three dozens of them, and they had been there for about two weeks now. There was a lot of gore, some of them where cops but most of them were civilians. A firefight had taken place, they unlike had been moved since they died. Some of them had tried to get out while being injured though. Most had been shot, others were simply beaten up and bruised, maybe hurt by panicking others, run over or smashed.   
It all made John gag and Natasha even had to turn away and throw up.  
Both them had seen corpses before, and not few. But this was off the charts. What the hell had happened here?   
Natasha stopped to her respirator mask out of her backpack. She had to keep going.   
John had pulled up his shirt into his face, he seemed shocked and there was fear in his eyes, they fear of recognising one of the bloated bodies lying on the ground. He was determined to make it through this. He jumped a little when he felt through the fabric of his gloves how Natasha took his hand. She was trying to signal him that she was with him and she would not leave him.   
Slowly they made their way through the lobby. Natasha looked around trying to figure out what happened and also keeping an eye on John. He was keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him, he really didn't want to see.   
As soon as they were on the other side, he abruptly stopped and Natasha, still holding his hand, with him. He had noticed something; drops of blood, there were red and fresh, not curdled like the rest of it. The trail was leading into the same direction they were headed. She could tell by the shape of the drops.   
She let go of his hand after squeezing it, to grab her gun with both her hands, to be able to hold it stabil infront of her and aim it into the darkness infront of them.   
Who ever was hurt, had been hurt by someone, she looked around scanning the room with her eyes, looking for something that didn't fit.  
There, a cop in uniform, he was lying face down in a puddle of blood, that was relatively fresh and by colour clear distinguishable from the gore that surrounded him. She walked towards him, he didn't seem to be breathing. Her left hand still holding onto her gun, she turned him around with her other hand, he had been shot into the abdomen and chest, several times. She felt his pulse, he was dead. She frowned and rose, grabbing her gun again with both hands and heading back to John.   
“We are not alone, “ she said quietly as soon as she was close enough to whisper.   
He nodded, still pretty pale and clearly tense.  
“Hey,” she let go of the gun with one hand to take his into her’s, “we can leave if you want.”  
He shook his head, no, “let's track them down.”  
“Yes, together,” she said, her eyes following the drops.   
Slowly, quietly and absolutely careful they started to follow.   
The drops were getting smaller until they had stopped completely, in the middle of the hallway.   
Who ever was hurt hat gotten his bleeding under control. Natasha looked around, on high alert, when John heard something; a breathy “fuck!” down the stairwell that was leading down or up a few meters from them.   
John raised a finger to signal her to be quiet and Natasha nodded, she had let go of his hand. Now being more careful than before, she moved towards the stairwell, her rifle raised.   
She used standard signs, used in tactical combat, to tell John, there were three of them.   
He nodded, to show he had understood, he had his gun out.  
Natasha pushed down her mask, the sound of the valve being pushed back and forth was something that could be avoided, she started to walk down the stairs.   
She checked if John was following, he was right behind her. The way she moved, she knew what she was doing and hell he was really lucky to not be alone.   
The intruders were in the basement, as soon as the two were on level the two could see them.   
Natasha and John took cover right away   
She carefully checked what they were doing, again.   
The man who had been standing at the door of a room now had vanished, probably entered the room to join his buddies.  
The two could hear laughter and excited chatter down the hall.  
Natasha knew once they had started to move down the hall, there would be no cover for them, while the three could hide all the time.   
John made that decision for her, as he reckoned her to follow and left the cover to walk down the hall quietly but swiftly.   
She followed him, her gun raised on the opened door to a room.   
“Police, freeze!” John shouted his gun raised at one of the thugs.   
Clearly gang members all in their twenties, one of the had a big scratch at his arm that had been wrapped into fabric but blood was showing through. The room was storage room, mostly containing riot control gear.   
Natasha was right next to John, her gun raised and a mining towards the other two, who were standing close to each other. One of them was turned away but now turned towards the two, who had stepped into the room. He was holding something in his hand, it was metal and cylinder shaped.   
The other thug looked down at it and grinned. “Ninja, digga,” he hummed.   
The other one grinned too and one hand let go of the object.   
It was a grenade and John could clearly see the yellow marking around it, “Wait! This no smoke, it's-- “ he stopped as the guy pulled the pin, while grinning.


	5. How it all started I

Natasha woke up, woken by chaotic yells and laughter from the room beneath her’s. She cursed. She got up, having the urge to go and tell them to keep it down. For playing with a deaf person, Katya was quite loud. Too loud. Natasha had to work tomorrow.   
It was raining outside Natasha muttered something and went back to bed. Putting in her headphones and hiding under her pillow. She was finally to fall back asleep.   
When she woke up the next morning it was bright outside. She noticed that the buzz outside was still going. It was six in the morning.  
Natasha showered and then got dressed to go downstairs. Katya and Nastia were in the kitchen, Katya was sitting on the table and Nastia was making breakfast. Each one with their tablet. Both were giggling, the power of staying up way too long.  
»You both are still up?« Natasha asked while signing along in Russian sign language.   
“Yeah,” Katya replied. “We did play Minecraft together.”  
“I heard that. For the fact that one of you is deaf you were quite noisy.”  
»Nata, I’m making food for you too, go get your stuff,« signed Anatastia with a smile.   
»Thanks, Nastiya« Jurow nodded and turned around to pack her bag.   
She would likely be on standby the entire day, that if nothing interesting happened. She was humming a song and rechecked if her phone was charged when she heard a “Natasha!” from the kitchen.   
Katya’s voice was filled with panic, so much panic that her voice was breaking.   
Natasha ran, straight to the kitchen. As soon as she was through the door she knew what was going on.   
There was blood, Nastiya had hurt herself with a knife. The cut was several centimeters long and reached up her arm. She was holding it, pale, disturbed unsure what to do.   
Katya stood next to her panicking.   
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Natasha said to Katya. She pulled over a chair for Nastiya to sit. »Sit down.«   
Nastiya sat.   
“Now Kate, get me my green bag from the office.”   
Natasha used a bit of kitchen-wipe to stop the blood from dripping down, it was not a lethal injury but it sure was bleeding like hell.   
After Natasha had cleaned the wound and stitched up that cut, she was over an hour late, she had tried to call the office several times but nobody had picked up the phone.   
She left the flat and went out on the street and practically ran to the next underground station, to catch the next train. People on the platform seemed to be under the weather, a lot of them seemed tired. She brushed it off, people were like that all the time, she only noticed because of her rough morning.   
The train arrived, Natasha went on and sat down. The young man next to her was staring into the void in front of him, headphones on his ears, he seemed absent.   
She shrugged while the train started moving.   
Natasha looked around, something was really off. The woman sitting behind her just could not stop coughing, this and the entire mood made her feel highly uncomfortable.   
She got up to a standing spot, she had to go through this, it was just her mind tricking her, nothing of that threat she was seeing was real. Still she felt like she had to get off the train as soon as possible and be in the headquarters, where the public had no access.   
The station she had to get off the train was very crowded, she decided to ride to the next station, she was late anyways. What the hell was going on with her, she was not _that_ sleep deprived. It was just her PTSD haunting her, that was for sure. The next station was less crowded and she practically ran up to the surface. Almost everyone looked tired who was in the streets this morning.   
After walking for several minutes she finally reached the headquarters.   
The other team was sitting in their kitchen in the basement, Lucas, a guy from Natasha's team was with them. He had very short blonde hair and was in his uniform, slouching on the couch.   
“Nat, I'm glad you showed up,” Lucas said, he seemed a bit pale and tired. “Everyone from our squad called in sick and Jeremy is also missing a few guys, we are fusing the teams.”  
“Makes perfect sense, sorry I'm late, had an emergency at home, let me change real quick.”  
Lucas shrugged. “Whatever. “  
“You OK?” Natasha asked with a frown, he seemed so passive today.   
“Just a bit under the weather… “ he responded.   
Natasha frowned a bit more but then went to change into her uniform. Something was not right, she felt uncomfortable and like something was very off. Everyone seemed to be depressed and sick, she was not feeling that way but it scared her a lot.   
When she returned she sat down next to Lucas, now noticing the band-aid around his hand.   
“What happened?” she asked.   
“A guy on the bus bit me.”  
“What? Why?”  
“I didn't came to ask him,“ there was anger in his voice. “I managed to knock him out before he could hurt me further.”  
Natasha's stomach felt like it was knotting up into a tight knot. She carefully moved a bit away from Lucas.   
He, of course, saw that and his eyebrows narrowed in an angry frown. “What is the matter with you? Can't you stop being all paranoid and traumatised for one second? Jesus Christ.”  
Natasha shrugged and got up to sit with the others, who seems less like a rabid dog. This was not like Luca but didn't have to fight with him now.   
She was clearly troubled and nervous. Something was not right.   
“Maybe I should go down the street to get us some donuts…”  
“Jurow, you have to stay here,” Jeremy said in his commanding voice.  
“Aye, OK, sorry. You all seem weird today.”  
“You are just paranoid, I wonder how you passed those evaluations. just cut your crap,” Lucas interfered, he sounded on the edge.   
“Natasha, may I speak to you privately?” Jeremy said.  
Natasha was still fromwing. “Sure.” She felt like this meant trouble, she had gone too far, but she got up and followed Jeremy into the staircase.   
“It’s not just you. I am not allowed to tell you but we are on code orange since the morning, and I feel like it is related to the fact, everyone called in sick today. If we get a call we will respond it, but we won't go outside unnecessarily.”  
“I feel like an epidemic broke out, or maybe it’s radiation or a chemical substance,” Natasha told him.   
“We don’t know but I have to protect my team and also do our job.”  
“And you have my support on that.”  
“Thank you, Jurow.”  
Natasha nodded. “May I do to the restroom?”  
“Sure,” Jeremy replied and then went back inside.   
Natasha locked herself in and then sent a text to Katya. “Listen we have a situation. Don't tell anyone but please don't leave the house and no matter what you do don't let anyone inside.”  
Jurow left the bathroom before checking for an reply.   
She went back into the room and sat down, keeping an eye on the radio. There seemed to be a lot going on, but again maybe it was just her paranoia mixed with the knowledge that something could be going on. But the team didn't get any calls.   
Outside they heard a crash, the guys and Natasha got up and to the window, just Lucas stayed seated. Someone had crashed his car into the end of a traffic jam. Something was going on, that was for sure.   
“We need to help them!” one of the guys called out.   
“We have to stay inside, in case we get a run,” Jeremy intercepted.   
That moment the radio beeped. “This is Station 21, we are besieged by a violent riot. They are trying to come in, we locked the door. It appears to be a riot gone bad. We could use some backup.”  
Natasha looked up at Jeremy. Who reached for the radio. “This is Jeremy Miller, SWAT 4, can you give us further descriptions of your situation?”  
The officer on the other side explained how many people there were and where they were hiding exactly.   
Meanwhile Natasha was listening bit still looking outside.   
There was a man making his way up the pavement, he watched him reach for a woman that was passing. He pulled her closer, the woman exclaimed. The man bit her into her shoulder while the woman was crying and then she fell to the ground bleeding.   
“You need to see this!” Natasha said a small amount of fear audible in her voice. Her first Impulse was to run down and help but the blood was spurting out of the victim and she wouldn't make it down there in time. She cursed.   
Jeremy had stepped up to the window. “What the hell. Is he crazy?”  
Natasha just turned to Lucas who was still sitting on the couch, now very quiet and more tired than aggressive.   
“Talk to me, doc.” ordered Jeremy when he saw that Natasha was concerned.   
“It's possible we are dealing with something far worse than riots and bad weather.”  
They watched as panic spread on the street.  
“We need to help the people trapped in the station.”  
“We can't go out there. We will go nuts too. Maybe it is in the air, or we could be attacked too. The streets are jammed, we would need to walk there.”  
“Well, we have to do something. Put on your riot gear, the full outfit. And bring the shields and automatic guns. Just to be sure.”  
“Yes, sir.”   
Everyone went to gear up, including Lucas, who felt tired but had a job to do.   
Natasha had a really bad feeling about this, a worse feeling than this morning on the metro. They could deal with a pandemic or a chemical substance. Had she been exposed already? Were her mates going to be sick.   
***  
As soon as the five stepped onto the street, all of them knew that something was not right but it was hard to tell what.   
“Seems like you were right after all, doc,” Paul, one of the guys said through his mask.   
“Closed formation everyone,” Jeremy ordered and they positioned their shields in a new pattern.   
It had been several hours since Natasha had been in the street and things had changed pretty quickly. Right now she was glad to not be alone and with people she could rely on.   
The station was two blocks from their current location but they were only to move rather slowly. Trying to avoid any contact with one of the freaks or a running civilian.   
They saw more and more killed people, with bite wounds at the neck or arms.   
Natasha tried to focus on her breathing in order to not panic. All of this reminded her off a bad film or maybe one of her crazy dreams. She was glad she had told Katya to stay inside.   
As they came in sight of the station they stopped. It was surrounded by a huge crowd of people. A few of them had noticed the team and turned around to them. All of them were freaks, all of them had visible wounds.   
“Keep the formation closed, fire if you need to.” Jeremy said just loud enough for his team to hear.   
The four others nodded.   
They could hear how glass broke, probably a window and then another one.   
Jeremy pulled up his megaphone and turned it on. He felt how everyone tensed up.   
And then the angry mob came right towards them.   
“Doc, as soon as there is a gap, you and Lucas go for the station, they could need medical attention in there. We will follow as soon, as the coast is clear.“  
“Aye,” Natasha covered Lucas as they left the formation.   
The freaks seemed to be focused on the other team members and Natasha was a able to move past them, with Lucas in tow.  
When they were at the door she, identified herself and it took quite a while until they opened up from the inside. And hurried to close the door behind the two.   
“The others will want in too, once they are done.” Natasha said to the officer who had welcomed them.   
“We have injured in the back of the building, we kept them away from the doors and windows” the Officer explained.   
“Stay at the door!” she ordered the officer who had opened the door for them.   
He nodded, he looked mildly disturbed.   
The power inside the station was out, Natasha turned on the torch attached to her assault rifle and followed the hallway in the back of the building.   
Lucas was quiet, he was following right behind her. Something was wrong with him, she new it, even though she could not see his pale face through his mask.   
There were maybe two dozens police officers hiding in the rooms in the back of the building. One brown-haired man, approached them, he seemed to be captain of rank.   
“Finally,” he said. “What the hell is going on?”  
“We don’t know yet,” she answered. “Is anyone of you hurt?”  
“Yeah, four of us,” the captain answered and pointed to where they had sat down.   
Lucas had sat down already, he felt worse. Natasha knew this, she offered to have look at him and maybe help him with medication, but he kept refusing any treatment. She sighed and started checking over the injured officers.   
One of them had a sprained ankle, one a lesion on his forehead and two other had been bitten, like Lucas.   
Natasha had to talk to Jeremy and possibly to the Captain too. Especially since they were dealing with a possible epidemic. Something that made people bite other humans.   
There was a buzz in the hallway, the others had managed to get inside, it seemed like they were unharmed.   
Natasha got up, “I’d like to talk to you and this station’s captain,” she said to Jeremy, softly.   
He nodded and reckoned over the captain.   
The three went into the captain’s office.   
“Two of his men, were bitten too,” she started. “I’m afraid we could deal with something serious here. Something is making people bite others. They don’t even behave like humans anymore. I can’t prove it yet, but it is most likely a pathogen--”  
“That would make sense.” Jeremy interrupted her.   
“That’s bad, really bad. Thank you for telling us privately, I can’t use a panic. What what do we do?”  
“We try to survive and protect civilians where we can? The CDC will be here soon, they have protocols for this. For now we should isolate those who have been bitten, just to make sure, maybe get them to a hospital where they can be treated.”  
All of this sounded easier than I actually was. Especially since the station was still surrounded by an ever growing group of zombies. Zombies. Nobody called them that, but that's what they were, mindless and hungry lead by their hunger. No sense left in them.   
From a window in the second floor they kept watching the door.   
“Why don't we just shoot them?” a fat cop in uniform snarled and before his partner could say anything he had fire his revolver and hit one of them into the chest. The zombie didn't seem bother he kept walking, now heading for the direction where the shot had been fired and so did every other one of them in street. They all turned towards them and headed for the station.   
“The fuck, it didn't hurt him? This is not normal!”  
This was not, absolutely not what they had wanted.   
Natasha and the others had prepared the injured officers to move. That was screwed now. They had to barrecate every door and window in the ground floor to be able to keep them out.   
They were stuck.   
“Okay, for everyone who hasn’t worked with me before. My name is Doctor Natasha Jurow, I’m SWAT4’s medical officer. We will now bring the bitten officers into an unused office up the hall, to isolate them.”   
The guys looked at her, as if she was out of her mind.  
“Please, don’t get me wrong, but better safe than sorry.”  
After they had muttered a bit about it, they picked Lucas and the others up and carried them where, Natasha lead them.   
The officers left the office and let Natasha alone with the injured  
“Nat, help me, “ Lucas said. “I think I'll die. Everything hurts. “  
Nat hunched down next to him, and placed her gloved hand on his wrist to feel his radial pulse.   
Lucas was septic.   
“He needs to go to a hospital or he will die.” she told Jeremy.   
Jeremy looked at her, he kept standing in the doorframe, not wanting to come any closer.   
“Nat, I can't breathe,” Lucas whispered. His breathing was extremely laboured and shallow.   
His fever was leading to a multiple organ failure.   
“I'm sorry. I wish I could do more. “ she said to him softly.   
Half an hour passed until his heart had died.   
For Jurow all of this was pure stress, the commanding officers were, as everyone else overwhelmed by the situation.   
Jurow let him there, where he was and tried to help the others who had been bitten when suddenly a hand reached for hers. She didn't notice because there was almost no sense of feeling in her synthetic left hand. Lucas had grabbed it and now was clinging.   
Jurow jumped around in a second and had her gun out already. Lucas stared at her with eyes that were not his.   
She knew it was not him anymore and as he kept pulling on her hand, coming dangerously close, she pulled the trigger.   
A shot rang out and the entire precinct was shaken by it. Everyone came towards her, gun out and expecting the worst.   
The Captain who had been told about the death of Lucas, stood in the door first, his gun pointed at Natasha.   
“He attacked me,” he said and put her gun away.   
“Who saw it?” the Captain asked as he looked around in the crowd of his men.


	6. Surprise, Ninja

The grenade fell to the ground, John grabbed Natasha's jacked, but he didn't get hold of it properly, though, he saw that she was right next to him.  
Everything went very fast. As soon as the grenades content started to fill the small room, even the three thugs realised this was no white smoke grenade, even though what was streaming out of it white looked like it, they stood it first and felt it the hard way. It was tear gas.  
John desperately pressed the door close behind him until it locked into place and tried to take a deep breath, calm down and focus. He had barely been exposed but it had awoken some memories. Memories to the attack when he had lost his leg.  
When he turned around to sit down against it, he realised he was alone in the hallway.  
But she had been right with him, she had been behind him, closer to the door than he had been, or hadn't she?  
“Fucking hell!” he cried out and kicked against the wall out of frustration.  
He could hear pounding against the reinforced door. He had locked her in with the thugs. He quickly took a spare t-shirt from his pack and tired it around nose and mouth, hoping it would at least help a bit and put on his goggles. He again used his hand to unlock the biometric lock. He quickly pulled open the door with one hand, the other one aiming his gun inside the room.  
The biting fog came right towards him, together with a short person who practically fell right into his arms, since they had stood close to the door. It clearly was Natasha. His left hand kept holding the door and his right arm wrapped around her to make her not fall over and to pull her with him and to shut the door again.  
She was pressing her mask to her face with one hand, her other one still holding her rifle. She had barely relaxed as she realised that he had gotten her out.  
“I'm so sorry, I thought you were out already,” he said, muffled by the layers of fabric in front of his face.  
Natasha was too distracted by her need for air to be mad at him. She was coughing hard and tried to slow down her breathing, her eyes, throat and lungs felt like they were on fire. Her exposure had been brief but strong.  
“They will die,” she finally rasped as she caught her breath.  
“No. It's just tear gas,” John replied. “Also they will kill us if we let them out of there, and we will flood this entire hall with gas.”  
“The room as small, the grenade is made for use outdoors. Overexposure can cause oedema in their lungs.”  
He was still holding her, scared that she would collapse and fall over. “‘Tasha, it's us or them.”  
They were standing there like that for a few minutes before Natasha pulled away. She secured the top strap of her mask which had been loose. So she didn't have it to hold the mask up to her face anymore.  
“Let's get what we came for, shall we?” John asked.  
“Aye, lead the way,” she said and tried to stand upright.  
He started to walk and she with him, now walking next to him. He was heading for a specific door which he unlocked. It was the armoury, good two-thirds of guns had been taken, probably when it had started.  
Kennex started to load guns into a gym bag he had brought in a folded state from the locker room.  
Natasha now finally almost able to see between the tears of her irritated eyes, stood at the door as a look-out.  
“Hey,” he said after he was done and ready to go. “I'm so sorry. Are you feeling alright?”  
“I will be okay,” she responded. “Let's leave this place.”  
He nodded and shouldered the bag.  
Shortly after the two were on their way up to the ATV and drove back to their base.  
Once they were there Natasha hid it and the two headed over to the ladder.  
Halfway they stopped, Natasha had a terrible cough again. She coughed up mucus and had to spit it out.  
She claimed up the ladder and entered for the window, pulled off her boots and outer gear and wait straight under the shower.  
She then put on a police tracksuit she had lying around and went to check on the two other ladies.  
She didn't feel very well but neither did Kennex. He seemed very depressed and far away.  
“You look like you need a hug, “ she said as she saw him sitting on the couch like a sack of potatoes.  
He looked at her, very sad.  
“All my friends are dead. And all those people in the lobby. Butchered,” he paused as his voice started to break.  
Natasha took the blanket and unfolded it when she sat down next to him she put it over them both.  
She put an arm around him, she knew how he felt.  
“They are still alive, they know how to handle situations like this, they are just hiding, like we are.” She felt him sobbing in her arms. “It's alright, John. I've got you. You did great today.”  
“I almost got you killed. I don't get why you are not mad at all.”  
“Sure I thought I would die in there but there is nothing to live for. In the fog of war worse things have happened. Believe me. And I have survived much worse than high concentrated riot control chemicals.”  
“Do you want to talk about it?”  
She shrugged. “I don't really feel up to it.”  
“That's okay too. I completely understand.” He looked at her.  
She leaned in to hug him and comfort him.

***

The next morning, when Kennex woke up he felt sore, he had barely slept. There was life in the house though, it was dark thanks to the blocked windows. He groaned and since he heard noise from downstairs he went to check.  
It was Vashchenko, she was rattling in the workshop in her basement. Constructing something that looked like a wind turbine.  
“Hey, you already up?” he asked.  
“Still. I'm a nerd, I'm nocturnal.”  
Kennex nodded, frowning.  
“If you should want coffee, I can help you, if you want.”  
Kennex nodded again.  
Hours passed, Kennex had gone through his stuff and Katya had gone to bed. Natasha's sister was up and doing housework and fixing one of Jurow's clothes.  
Natasha still was not around. Kennex waited a bit longer then he grabbed a pen and paper to communicate with Anastasiya.  
“What's up with your sister?” he wrote down on paper.  
“She is in bed.”  
“is she OK?” Kennex asked next.  
Anastasia shrugged.  
“What?”  
Nastia grabbed the pen. “I don't see why you are concerned.” She wrote down.  
“Something happened yesterday,” John paused trying to figure what to tell her and what not. He didn’t want to worry Anastasiya. “She was injured. Not bitten or anything with Zombies. I’m worried. Also, we saw lots of horrible things. I’m worried about both her mental and physical health.“  
“She can take a lot. I don’t know what you know about her, yet, but she saw a lot in her life. If you want, we can check on her.”  
Their shared piece of paper was almost full at this point.  
John nodded and Nastya got up and John followed her upstairs.  
Nastya carefully opened the door to Natasha’s room. It was dark just the small shed of light coming from the candles in the living room were lighting Natasha’s bedroom a bit. The air inside was used up after Natasha and her sister had slept inside. And they could not open a window for obvious reasons.  
Natasha seemed to lay curled up under two thin blankets. She was breathing fast and shaky.  
Anastasiya looked up at John, she didn’t know how to deal with her sister having a panic attack. She was not around enough for this, only having a video chat once a week.  
John just nodded. While Nastiya stood in the doorway, he approached Natasha carefully.  
She didn’t seem to react in any way.  
“Hey?” he said quietly and carefully put a hand on her shoulder.  
She jumped, turning around fast, in the dark of the room he could see the shin of metal in her hand and the coldness against his throat. She had a knife.  
A wave of shiver ran down his spine, he really felt like this was time for him to die. “Please,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, I was a dick.”  
She took a deep weary breath and her hand sank back, the knife with it. She turned away from him again, not saying anything.  
Oh fuck, he was scared. He was very damn scared. The fear, she could kill him, he knew she could and she would. Probably. But she was scared too maybe even more scared than him.  
“Hey, we got you,” he said. After hesitating for a second, he laid down next to her and hugged her from behind.  
Again she jumped. She fought. Not him but her thoughts and everything. He could feel her sobbing and her whole body shake.  
“Do you want to talk about it? What is wrong?” he asked very quietly, practically whispering into her ear.  
“I--I ju-just can’t do this anymore,” the rest of the sentence was lost in a sigh. “I tried to keep them safe, the girls, I also want to help where I can. But I’m barely holding up, when something happens to me, they are done.”  
“But you are not alone with them anymore. I’m here too, I will help you,” he paused, “or at least I’ll try to help.”  
Natasha said nothing.  
“Look where you are now, weeks into this scenario and you and the two are still alright, you have food, you have water and you even have a power system. You must do something right.”  
“You have no idea what I lost in the first two days of this ‘scenario’,” she said between sobs.  
“If you want to talk about it, I'm ready to listen. But for now, let's breathe. You’ve got this. You have responsibility.”  
“I’m just not sure how long I can keep doing this,” she sighed and then moved over.  
In the poor light inside the bedroom, he could see her gun on the nightstand. She really was paranoid. And not just a bit.  
He offered her a hand up. “I’m sorry. Anything I can help you with?”  
She shook her head but gratefully accepted his hand up.  
Anastasiya was still watching them, it was too dark for her to read lips and but she knew that her older sister had trouble. Natasha just never spoke about her issues not to family and not to Yekaterina, who was a long term flatmate and also almost something that could be considered family.  
“We… Uh… I need to go out on a raid. There is something I could use,“ Natasha said as she got up and attached her fake arm. Only a third of her left upper arm was still human, the rest was the ugly metallic truth.  
On top, she put on a long sleeve and her uniform.  
John had vanished to give her privacy. He went downstairs to pack the things he could need. Sure he was still feeling rather weak but he didn't plan on letting her go alone.  
Kate was still asleep and Nastia was drawing out plans for a roof deck.  
John smirked as he saw it.  
He packed a few protein bars in case he and Natasha could get stuck outside.


	7. Alan, Leo and the horde

After half an hour Natasha was ready to head out, she was not much surprised that John wanted to come with her. She was worried since he was still recovering but the secret she was glad.  
John opened the window, sunlight hitting his face and the air from outside streaming towards him. He frowned.  
“Is it just me or is this smell getting worse every day?”  
Natasha shook her head. “No. It's not just you. It could be the decomposing bodies and all the food and flowers and trash rotting everywhere. Plus we should stack up all the dead zombies in our street and burn them, maybe. That if we can find protective clothes, “ she was frowning too. She closed the clasp of her helmet and followed him, closing the window after she had left the house.  
She took off her scarf and handed it to John, while she partially pulled up the fabric mask she had worn at work.  
They headed towards the ATV but Natasha cursed when she started to start its engine. “Fuck, I forgot to plug it into the charging unit, yesterday. Let's walk then.” She shrugged and covered the vehicle again.  
Jurow sighed as she picked up her pack and grabbed her gun with both hands.  
The two slowly moved down the street, trying to avoid bigger groups of zombies entirely.  
But as soon as single ones came too close too fast Jurow didn't hesitate to shoot them down.  
After a while they had reached the first place, Jurow had planned to check. The two talked little to not at all, for several reasons. Both were incredibly tense and focused and to talk could attract unwanted attention.  
Jurow was looking for medication and food. Specific food and specific medication. But they were lucky and also found a few batteries for radios and torches and a little bit of ammunition.  
Suddenly they heard buzz up the street. A child yelling, and crying.  
John was the lookout and tried to see what was going on.  
There were several zombies spread in the street.  
Natasha had heard it too and stepped up to him, both went on the street to see what was going on.  
A few houses up the road, a boy came running out of a door. He was crying and seemed to be very scared. He was running away from something or someone. But right towards the zombies. They soon noticed him and went beeline for the kid.  
Natasha cursed softly and shot one of the zombies with one bullet in the head, one she had a clear shot at.  
The rest of the horde spun around, their attention shifted away from the boy. The boy was frozen in shock, staring at Natasha and the zombies. He had wrapped his arms around himself and was still crying.  
John assisted her by taking out zombies one by one with absolute caution to not risk the kid.  
When just a handful were left John said to Natasha “Go check the kid. I've got the rest.”  
Natasha nodded, and started running, straight through the group but dodging them. She positioned herself between the boy and the zombies. She drew her sidearm to take down another one, while John eliminated the rest.  
As the last of them dropped she relaxed a bit and turned around to the boy, hunched down, she kept her rifle aimed towards the ground and away from him.  
He was still in a state of shock. On the first glance, he didn't seem to be bitten or scratched.  
“Hey, bud. I'm Natasha. I'm a doctor.”  
The word “Doctor” made him tense up even more.  
She used her left hand to push the fabric out of her face. She had worn it to protect her mouth and nose from dirt and bad smells.  
He looked into her face but still didn't speak.  
A few meters behind him a person stepped onto the street. They were wearing a blue hazmat suit and Natasha bit the inside of her mouth by the sight of them.  
The person looked at her, the boy, at John and then at the dead zombies.  
Further up the street another pack had heard the gunshots and was now heading towards them rather slowly, as was probably every other creature in a two block radius.  
Natasha didn't think twice. She picked up the boy, making sure he was not in the way of her gun. She could feel how tense the boy was. And how he was sobbing. “I won't hurt you, I promise. Are you hurt?”  
The boy shook his head, still shaking and sobbing. She carefully started rubbing his back, trying to comfort him.  
They had to get off the street. Now. She gestured John to follow her.  
The person in the suit didn't seem to be a direct threat, but the boy had to be scared of them for a reason.  
“We need to get off the street before they reached us,” she told John calmly.  
He was in crisis mode and was still holding his gun to defend her.  
The two were heading towards the house the boy had been in.  
The boy awoke from his frozen state and tried to fight Natasha, beg her to let him go. It got worse the closer they came to the person in the suit.  
“Please don't come any closer,” the man in hazmat gear said. His voice suggested that he was tense, maybe even afraid. “Who are you two?“  
“Doctor Nataliya Jurow, SWAT and that's Detective John Kennex, LAPD. And who are you?”  
“Doctor Alan Farragut. I'm with the CDC,” the man told them. He could see how Natasha perked up slightly.  
But the boy in her arms kept fighting. He was frightened.  
“We should get inside and lock the door,” John said.  
Natasha walked past him, and the other doctor followed them inside. The kid was still fighting and Natasha was glad that she wore her outer gear. That way the boy's kicks hurt less.  
She made sure she didn't come too close to the Doctor since he didn't like it.  
John and he tried to block the door and soon they all could hear zombies scratching and bumping into it.  
John was tense, he still had his gun out.  
And Natasha was slightly triggered by the crying boy in her arms who did not get tired of kicking and punching her.  
She took him into a room where they were out of sight of the Alan Farragut.  
The boy calmed down a bit. Kids were not her strong suit, that was for sure.  
“Hey, mate. Nobody will hurt you when I'm around, “ she told him softly. She sat down and let go of him.  
He didn't run outside the room and instead hid between the furniture. He was still crying and utterly exhausted.  
Natasha made sure her weapons were secure and kept sitting in the floor, leaned against the wall, watching the kid.  
“Would you like to tell me what happened?  
The boy made a sound that was hard to judge, then he left his hiding place to get a blanket from the sofa. It was dark blue and had white stars on it. He wrapped himself into it and hid again.  
“Mommy and Daddy went outside and they just didn't come back. And I wanted to find them but met it instead. As soon as I saw it and all the sick people in the street I ran back home. But it found me so I wanted to run away. It said it was a doctor but it doesn't have doctor things with it. And neither do you.”  
“That's a valid argument. But I just hid my doctor things.”  
“You don't look like a doctor either. You look more like a soldier.”  
“Well, that's right. Soldiers need a doctor too sometimes. That's why I'm dressed like one,” Natasha said and slowly took off her bag. She opened it. And she got things out of her vest’s pockets.  
“See I have plenty of doctor things. I just hide them so I don't lose them and they don't get dirty or damaged.”  
The boy came a bit out of his hiding place. “But you hurt the sick people in the street.”  
“I had to. I don't like It either. But they wanted to hurt you and us. So I had to make sure we are safe. What is your name, kiddo?”  
“Leo… “ he said and came a bit closer.  
“That's a great name. I'm Natasha.” She smiled at the boy. “Are you hungry or thirsty?”  
The boy nodded and came a bit closer.  
Outside they could hear John and Doctor Farragut talk.  
John had already told him that he didn't know much since he had been asleep the first two weeks.  
Alan, also had understood that for whatever reason he was scaring the kid, so he waited patiently until Natasha would come out into the hallway to talk to them.  
“Do you think it will eat your police-friend?” Leo asked as he started to chew on a protein bar Natasha had given him.  
Natasha shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t think that the doc is a monster. He just hides under his suit because he is scared to get sick.”  
Leo looked at her with big eyes. “Are we gonna get sick because we don’t wear one?”  
Natasha shook her head again. “No. If you don’t let the sick people touch you and if you don’t touch them, you should be fine.”  
“Do you think Mommy and Daddy touched them?” he asked and looked up at Nat.  
“I don’t know.”  
Outside in the hallway, John called Natasha’s name. She got up and went outside to check what was going on.  
There were still zombies banging against the door and it was in danger of breaking.


End file.
